Apparatus for the treatment of textiles



Jan. 15, 1940.

A. MELLOR ETAL APPARATUS FOR THE TREATMENT OF TEXTILES Filed May 12, 1942 A-MELLOR RMART I w 7 A-TIORIVEYS ample of such a treatment is the the figure on crepe fabrics.

Patented 15, 1948 APPARATUS iron THE TREATMENT or Taxmas Albert'Meilor and Robert Martin, Spondon, near Derby, England, assignors to Celanese Corporation of America, a corporation of Delaware Application May 12, 1M2, Serial No. 442;6li8

In Great Britain .iuneiErliidl i oiam.-(oi; ce iss I This invention relates to an apparatus and ether, cannot'in general be safely dyed or otherwise processed in rope or other folded form, e. g'.

on a winch, without a previous liquid treatment in open width during which the fabric is thorthe fabric intothe vat, a member capable of presenting a moving surface which can'guide the fabric down into ,and below liquid in. the vet,

means for withdrawing the fabric from the liquid. and means for adjusting the relative rates of-- operation of the said fabric feeding means and member capable of presenting a moving surface vonthe one hand and the fabric-withdrawing means on the other, so as to compensate for.

. shrinkage of the fabric in the liquid.

oughly wetted out and any strains" are released.

In the absence of such a pretreatment the 'fabric is prone to acquire permanent creases or river.

marks during the treatment in folded form.

Again it is often desirable to'efiect the liquid treatment of textile fabrics whilst allowing free shrinkage in all directions to take place. An exdevelopment of which has in the weft, or boththe weft' and warp, highly twisted yarns, for example yarns of natural silk or of regenerated cellulose artiiicial silk or of cellulose acetate. Usually the fabric is then subjected to hot aqueous treatment; for example at temperatures of 85-90 C. or purpose of developing the crepe figure. It is es-' sential that during this treatment the fabric shall be substantially free to shrink both in the weft direction and in the warp direction-ifiull development of the crepe figure is to baattained. Moreover, especially in the case of cellulose acetate fabrics, owing to the plasticity :of the yarn at the temperature employed, there is consideri her. for the.

The device capable of presenting a moving surface is most conveniently in the form oia drum rotatable abouts. horizontal axis with apart only of its periphery immersed in liquid in the vat.

Preferably the drunris of large diameter, for example at least 3 feet e. g. 5 to!) feet or more. drum of 6 to 8 feet diameter is very suitable. .Ad-

vantag eously it is of skeleton construction having a periphery through which liquid can pass readily,

A fabric is woven able risk ofuneven or incomplete crepe develop-f ment and of permanent creasing and distortion. It will be appreciated therefore'that most of the machines commonly used for the liquid treatment of textiles are unsuitable when ,eirecting'crep'e 1 development of cellulose acetate materials. For

example, the use of the jig involves some application of tension to the material and does'not permit free shrinkage. Again, use of a winch.

machine involves both creasing of the material and sometension' and machines of the type in for example a periphery of perforated metal sheet. [Preferably the periphery is coveredwith a textile material, for example woven or knitted cotton material e. g. madapolam.

It is convenient to have means for bunching the textile fabric undergoing treatment into rope form after it leaves-the liquid in the vat. This can take the form of an eye e.. g. .of porcelain,

through which the fabric is drawn In such case the fabric-withdrawing means is conveniently in the form of a winch, for example an'elliptical I winch. Means can be provided for spraying liquid on the fabric as it leaves the bath. This is advantageously placed immediately above the eye or other means forbunching the fabric into arope when such device is incorporated.-- Preferably an infinitely variable gear is used to permit adjustment of the-relative rates of fabric feed to and withdrawal of fabric from the vat. Conveniently a common shaft is used to drive both the fabric feeding device and the fabric withdrawing device, the infinitely variable gear being included in the drive, to'the latter from the shaft.

whichthe fabric is suspended by the seivedse or t in loops or is suspended as a hank-are costiv as regards labor requirements and do not permit continuous operation.

*In accordance with the; present inventionan apparatus for the liquid treatment of textile fab rice in continuous manner-while in open width comprises a vat for the liquid, means ior feeding The invention will now be described with ref;- erence to the accompanying drawing which" shows one form of apparatus accordingtc the invention. Fig. 1 shows a diagrammatic side elevation of the apparatus with the side wall omitted. A v drum i rotatable about. a horizontal axle his 1 mounted so that nearly half iswithin a vat 3 to contain the treatment liquid which can be heated by steam supplied through pipes 8. A pair of driven rollers i, E serve to draw fabric from, a

roil 8 by way of the idler roller 7 and deliver it into the vet 8 so that it meets the drum I at about theppoint where theperiphery ofthe latter enters the liquid in the vat. The general path of the fabric through the apparatus is indicated by the dot-and-dash line 8. An elliptical winch I serves to draw fabric from the vat 3 via the porcelain eye H. Idlerrollers l2, ii are provided within the vat 3 to guide the fabric through the vat between the drum l and the point at which it is withdrawn from the vat. If desired a horizontal screen of perforated metal sheet or the like can be fitted just above the steam pipes is to prevent the fabric from touching the said pipes. A spray nozzle 44 is provided through which liquid can be sprayed over fabric being withdrawn from the vat 3 through the eye it. y

The vat 3 can be provided with a cover It to reduce heat losses and escape of steam.

The driving of the various parts of the apparatus is effected by an electric motor l which, by a belt it and pulleys I1 and i8 drives a train of gears (not shown) carried on shafts i9, 2d, 28 and 2 the latter being the axle of the drum- I. A pulley 22 on shaft 2! drives the fabric feed rollare 6, 5 by way of the pulley 24, the chain 25 and the chain sprockets 26, 2'1, 28, 29. A second pulley 30 on shaft 2! drives the winch it! through an infinitely variable gear box 3i of which the hand-wheel for controlling the gear ratio is indicated at 32. The drive from pulley 30 to the-gear box is by the belt 33 and the pulley 34. The drive from the gear box 3| to the winch H3 is by way of the pulley 35, the belt 315, the c ountershaft and pulleys 31, 38, 39, the belt Ml and the pulley 4 l.

The periphery of the drum 1 is made of perforated sheet metal covered with textile fabric as illustrated in Fig. 2 in which is shown the sheet metal 4|, holes 42, and covering of textile fabric 43, the latter being broken away at the right hand side of the figure to show the holes 42 more clearly.

Various modifications of the above described apparatus are within the scope of the invention. For example, instead of the drum I an endless driven belt having, beneath the liquid, a path generally similar to that of the drum, may be employed. Again, instead, of the non-contactin rollers l, 5, a pair of driven nip rollers can be used. Moreover a type of winch different from that of the elliptical winch illustrated, for example a. circular winch can be employed. Further, the steam used for heat n l quid in the vat can either be admitted directly into the'liquid (i. e. from open steam pipes) or can be passed through a series of pipes in the liquid without direct contact with theliquid. It is often cont'enient to fit both types of steamheating, open steam pipes for heating the liquid rapidly to the 7 working temperature, and closed steampipe for maintaining the temperature subsequently so that during" working the liquid is not progressively diluted by condensed -steam used for heating. a

As indicated above, an infinitely variable Sear device can be used to permit control of the relative rates of introduction of the fabric into and withdrawal from the vat I. Other devices can be used forthis purpose, for example, mechanically independent drives to the fabric-feeding device-and the fabric-withdrawing device mspec tively. Forinstance separate electric motors, of

dicated by the dot-and-dash line 8. Usually it is advantageous to deliver the fabric upon the surface of the drum l at a point just before it enters the liquid in the vat.

The spray nozzle 44 can be used to spray cooling or washing liquid on to the fabric as the latter leaves the vat.

The new apparatus i particularly useful for subi ecting fabrics containing highly twisted yarns, and especially fabrics containing highly twisted yarns of cellulose acetate or other cellulose ester or ether, to hot aqueous treatments for the purpose of developing crepe figures thereon. Such processes only operate satisfactorily if the fabric is substantially free to shrink during the hot aqueous treatment. Such free shrinkage is readily permitted when the hot aqueous treatment is carried out with the aid of the apparatus of the invention.-

When treating cellulose acetate or other cellulose ester or ether fabrics it is usually advantageous to spray the fabric with cold water as the fabric is withdrawn from the hot liquid. This is especially the case when the fabric is bunched together in rope form as it is withdrawn.

Having described our invention what we desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

Apparatus for the liquid" treatment of textile fabrics in continuous'manner while in open width and which permits free shirinkage thereof, which comprises a vat for the liquid, a drum rotatable about a horizontal axis with part only of its peripheryimmersedin liquid in the vat", said drum periphery consisting of perforated metal sheet covered with textile fabric, driven rollers for feeding the fabric into the vat so that the fabric meets the drum atabout the point where the periphery of the latter enters the liquid in the vet and is.

guided down into liquid in the vat and beneath the drum by the moving peri hery of the drum, a

winch for withdrawing the fabric from the liquid at the opposite side of the drum to that at which the fabric enters the liquid, an eye through. which winch including an infinitely variable gear, the construction and arrangement being such that the relative rates of operation of the fabric feeding and withdrawing means maintain the fabric in'relatively smooth, unfoldedv condition in. the

whflmmpenseims for age of the rep. ric in the liquid. ALBERT MELLOR.

; ROBERT which at least one is of an adiustable speed ty e, 

